(Lake Mills, Iowa) – A single vehicle accident Wednesday evening in northern Iowa, claimed the life of a man from Minnesota. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1992 Buick Roadmaster driven by 69-year-old David Wayne Mason, of Elmore, MN., was traveling north on Highway 69 near 440th Street, in Winnebago County, when the vehicle left the road west of Lake Mills and entered the east ditch before vaulting over 440th Street, and rolling over. The accident happened at around 4:50-p.m.

Mason, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car and died at the scene. The Patrol was assisted during their accident investigation by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department and Lake Mills Police.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Auditor of State Rob Sand today (Thursday), released a report on a special investigation of Webster County Public Health Department (Department) for the period July 1, 2016 through May 31, 2022. The special investigation was requested by County officials as a result of concerns regarding certain financial transactions processed by the former Public Health Director, Kari Prescott.

Sand reported the special investigation identified $24,436.00 of undeposited collections, $32,663.85 of questioned costs charged to the Federal Family Planning Grant, and $1,611.13 of unsupported disbursements. The $24,436.00 of undeposited collections includes $16,456.00 of fees for immunizations and $7,980.00 of fees for tuberculosis tests administered by the Department. Because sufficient records were not available, it was not possible to determine if funds were not collected, collected but not deposited, or split between uncollected and undeposited.

Sand also reported it was not possible to determine if additional fees for other services were not properly deposited because adequate documentation was not available.
Sand also reported the procedures performed identified $32,663.85 of questioned costs related to payroll being improperly charged to the Family Planning Grant and $1,611.13 of unsupported mileage reimbursements issued to the former Public Health Director, Kari Prescott.

Sand saidthe Department received COVID-19 Response grant funding for the period of January 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022. The grant allows for grantees to submit claims for reimbursement of administrative costs, or bill insurance companies for the administrative costs. The County cannot bill both the Grant and the insurance companies of the same administrative costs. An allegation was made the County double billed for these administrative costs. However, because of the lack of supporting documentation, we could not reconcile the amounts which should have been billed to the grant and insurance companies for administrative costs under the COVID 19 grant. As a result, it cannot determine if administrative costs were double billed.

The report includes recommendations to strengthen the Department’s internal controls and operations, such as improving segregation of duties, maintaining supporting documentation, and maintaining adequate financial records, including ledgers and receipt books. The report also includes a recommendation regarding proper oversight of Department operations by Webster County officials and Public Health Board members.

Copies of the report have been filed with the Webster County Attorney’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Division of Criminal Investigation. A copy of the report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Special Interest Reports.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say a woman was arrested Wednesday night on a Harassment charge.  27-year-old Tylea Lynn Barnes, of Creston, was arrested at her residence, on a charge of Harassment in the 1st Degree. Barnes was transported to the Adams County Jail and held without bond until seen by a judge, and protection order is entered against her.

A woman from Afton was arrested Wednesday night in Creston, for Failure to Appear. 37-year-old Briget Gabrielle Carroll was taken into custody at the Creston/Union County LEC and transported to the Adams County Jail, where she was being held without bond until seen by a District Court judge. Carroll must also serve her previously ordered jail sentence.

(Eastern Iowa) – A familiar summer sight in the Quad Cities won’t be traveling the Mississippi River this year. The American Queen, the largest passenger steamboat in the world often seen squeezing through Locks and Dam 15 at the Government Bridge or under the Centennial Bridge in Rock Island, has been shut down — along with the rest of its parent company’s fleet.

In a statement, company officials said “American Queen Voyages has made the difficult decision to shut down. Despite great efforts by our team, crew and partners, American Queen Voyages unfortunately has been unable to rebound from the effects of the pandemic,” a statement on a website directing customers to refunds said. “The overnight cruise industry was especially affected by changes in travel preferences and, as a result, AQV has become financially unsustainable. We are therefore shutting down the business, and all future AQV cruises have been cancelled.”

Persons who have booked trips on the steamboat can expect to be fully refunded for your cruise deposits. For information about the refund process, please CLICK HERE or visit www.AQVrefunds.com.

AQV operated four boats. The American Countess and American Duchess joined the American Queen on the Misssissippi River, while the American Empress traveled on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Colleges and universities are constantly working to combat cyber-attacks and scams. One concerning trend is called “ghost students,” and schools here in Iowa are seeing them pop up in increasing numbers. A “Ghost Student” is a college applicant using a fake identity to try to get financial aid. They’re filing for that aid without any intent of going to the college and attending classes, as a form of fraud.

Iowa Western Community College reports catching 109 ghost students posing as students so they could steal federal grant money. In a report to the Board this week, Iowa Western President Dan Kinney says they caught the ghost students before they could cash out the money and disappear. Kinney says ghost students are a national problem, and often schools are left to repay the stolen grant money.

Matt Falduto is the Senior Director of Financial Aid at Kirkwood. He’s seen “ghost students” trying to slip through the cracks several times over his 20 years in the department. In November of 2023, Kirkwood identified approximately 100 financial aid applicants for suspected fraud. Falduto says thanks to the hard work of staff and their verification process, none of those applicants saw any money.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — A woman from Le Mars was federally sentenced in Sioux City on Tuesday for conspiring to steal firearms and other valuables from her family member’s home. Tresa Fiedler, 24, was given 87 months, or 7 years and 3 months, of prison. The sentencing comes after she pled guilty on Sep. 28, 2023, to one count of conspiracy to possess stolen firearms and one count of possession of stolen firearms.

According to a release from the Department of Justice, Fiedler, along with co-conspirator Ian Bigler, planned and committed a burglary at the home on Oct. 1, 2021. After ensuring the home would be empty, the duo stole 10 guns. In the days succeeding the burglary, Fiedler and Bigler attempted to conceal the crime. Fiedler tried to leave town by purchasing a car, while Bigler later fled from police and hid in his home with firearms and another person held against their will.

After her prison term, Fiedler will also serve one year under supervised release. The federal system does not allow for parole. Bigler was sentenced in July 2023 to 15 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

FORT DODGE, Iowa [KCCI] — Hundreds of Fort Dodge residents are signing a petition to hold a special election on a proposed franchise fee to hire eight new police officers in the city. After seeing more violent crimes in the last year, Fort Dodge Police Chief Dennis Quinn said the officer would make a big difference. “We’ve had a higher rate of homicides this last year than what we have in the past,” he said.

After a failed attempt to get the funding last year, City Manager David Fierke said the city has devised a new plan to get it done. “This year we looked at doing it with probably the only other source of consistent revenue, which is a franchise fee,” Fierke said.

The proposed five percent franchise fee on neighbors’ gas and electric bills would provide to money to make the hires. The fee has passed through two city council readings and would be instated starting in July if it passed a third and final one.

(Radio Iowa) – The application process is underway for millions in federal dollars to fund new electrical vehicle charging stations along Iowa’s interstate highways. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says Iowa is getting 50 million dollars to fund the new E-V chargers, and there will be 20-30 million available in this first round. “The cost of each individual application or site could vary significantly based on for example, the amount of electrical power at that location already,” Anderson says. He says some of the sites could require some upgrades from the electrical utilities to provide the necessary power levels to serve the chargers. The chargers will go along Interstates 35, 80, 29, and 380. Those applying for the money have to be within one mile of the interstate and provide a certain number of amenities.

“Of course, we want safe and well-lit locations, we want to have access to restroom facilities, and access to services like food and beverages,” Anderson says. “So we anticipate the most likely locations and applicants will be from convenience stores or truck stops those types of facilities.” Anderson says there are specifications that require a certain level of chargers be available. He says they could charge a vehicle in around 20 minutes, depending on the model. Anderson says Iowa had three-point-75 million registered vehicles at th end of 2023, and a little more than 15-thousand of them are two types electric vehicles.

“The full battery electric vehicles, we have eight-thousand-772 of those electric vehicles. And then we also have plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. And we have six-thousand-387 of those registered in Iowa,” he says. The deadline for applications to get the federal funds to build an electric vehicle charger is March 13th.